Project Playlist inks Sony deal, gets booted from Facebook

The RIAA sued Project Playlist in April for its "alternative" approach to …

Project Playlist is a music search engine and social network that caught the RIAA's attention in April for indexing and streaming unlicensed music from third-party resources across the Internet. Since then, the startup introduced Facebook and MySpace applications that allowed users to share their playlists of unauthorized music with friends. Despite Project Playlist finally scoring its first licensing deal with Sony BMG, however, the RIAA has succeeded in scaring MySpace and Facebook into shutting off access to the application.

Project Playlist operates by indexing third-party music resources (many recommended by users), then converting that audio into a streamable format with a Flash player front end ("an unsanctioned Last.fm" would be a good analogy). Users can then create playlists of their favorite music and share them via embeddable widgets on any site, or via applications on the two leading social networks, and advertising across the site pays the bills.

The RIAA's lawsuit alleged that Project Playlist "induces users to upload infringing content to third-party sites and then add the associated link to Project Playlist's index." The music sharing service defended itself at the time by asserting that it pays royalties to the three big US performing rights organizations—BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. Project Playlist's Achilles heel, however, is that it doesn't pay the actual copyright holders, which is what prompted the RIAA's original lawsuit.

Now the RIAA has gone after the two major outlets for Project Playlist's users—Facebook and MySpace—and succeeded in forcing a takedown of their respective Project Playlist applications. MySpace reportedly complied quickly with the RIAA's initial request. But after Facebook dug in its heels, it eventually scrubbed Project Playlist's application from its site and the 660,000 users' profiles it adorned. Ars contacted Facebook for a comment on why it initially refused to take down Project Playlist's application, but a spokesperson would only offer the social network's official statement on the situation:

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) initially contacted Facebook last summer requesting the removal of the Project Playlist application for copyright violation, and recently reopened those communications. We have forwarded the RIAA's letters to Project Playlist so it can work directly with that organization and music labels on a resolution. In the meantime, the application must be removed to comply with the Facebook Platform Terms of Service. Our hope and expectation is that the parties can resolve their disagreements in a manner that satisfies the developer and copyright holder, that continues to offer a great experience to music fans, and that doesn't discourage other developers from using Platform to share their creativity and test new ideas.

These application takedowns are unfortunately timed with Project Playlist's announcement of its first licensing deal with one of the big four labels, Sony BMG. All of the label's music will soon be available to Project Playlist's community and services. The company has clearly chosen the route of working with the RIAA instead of fighting a costly legal battle, one that could force a lengthy debate over Project Playlist's responsibility in vetting the content it indexes. Still, the startup would have been better served by securing licenses from the labels before launch, avoiding the wrath of the RIAA.